PALM CITY/TESORO
YourVoiceWeekly.com
“Martin County taxpayers are extremely intelligent.” John Haddox
VOL. 1/ISSUE 43
YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Scott sees lagoon cesspool
FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2013
Nicole Rodriguez Staff writer
nrodriguez@YourVoiceWeekly.com
See SCOTT page 14
Martin Commission indecision chokes proposed 1-cent sales tax Patrick McCallister Staff writer
pmccallister@YourVoiceWeekly.com
MARTIN COUNTY — A proposed 1-cent sales tax could have been about $20 million a year for a decade for the county to catch up on some lagging capital maintenance and improvements. But at the Aug. 20 regular meeting, the Martin County Commission killed PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID FORT PIERCE, FL PERMIT NO. 248
the proposed sales tax. Actually, the commission just sort of watched the proposed sales tax make a few gasps for air and die as various motions couldn’t find seconds. “I am getting increasingly more frustrated with studying things and studying things and not making a decision,” Commissioner John Haddox, Palm City, said in an interview after the meeting.
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He added, “One of our goals was addressing our deferred maintenance and we failed to do that.” At its Aug. 6 meeting, the commission gave county staff the nod to move forward with a proposed 10-year, 1-cent sales tax that tax would have taken Martin’s rate to 7 cents for every $1 of qualifying sales up to $5,000 starting in January. Had the commission
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Mitch Kloorfain/chief photographer Protestors voicing their concerns of water being released from Lake Okeechobee into the Indian River Lagoon make an attempt to be heard by Gov. Rick Scott at Phipps Park in Stuart Tuesday, Aug. 20. The governor visited the lock in Stuart to unveil a preliminary plan for cleaning the waterways.
TREASURE COAST — After seeing firsthand the forceful discharges of dirty water from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie Lock and Dam last week, Gov. Rick Scott flatly placed blame on the federal government for the freshwater’s destruction of the Indian River Lagoon. “The federal government has got to start showing up and doing their job,” Scott said to a crush of media on Aug. 20. “They got to start funding the projects. The (Army) Corps can’t make it happen if the federal government doesn’t start putting the money into the Corps.” During his brief visit, Scott did not go outside and meet with hundreds of constituents, who held signs and banners calling for a water diversion south. Scott also dodged questions about buying Big Sugar land in order to restore the natural flow of lake water down through the Everglades, but he did make a promise. “Today we’re announcing that all of us are committed (to earmark-